On Monday the Arkansas Legislature passed a law to place a poster of the Ten Commandments in public schools and public buildings.
Current law requires a copy of the national motto, “In God We Trust” to be displayed in public schools and other public buildings.
S.B. 433 by Sen. Jim Dotson (R — Bentonville) and Rep. Alyssa Brown (R — Heber Springs) requires a historical copy of the Ten Commandments to be displayed as well.
Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that items that are important to our nation’s history — like the Ten Commandments or the national motto — may be honored and recognized publicly without running afoul of the First Amendment. The Ten Commandments are one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have had a profound impact in shaping America’s concept of the rule of law as well.
S.B. 433 will make sure Arkansas continues that longstanding tradition of recognizing the importance of the Ten Commandments. The bill already passed the Arkansas Senate. It now goes to Gov. Sanders to be signed into law.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a good law clarifying that abortion by fraud is a crime in Arkansas.
Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and it is illegal to deliver abortion-inducing drugs into the state. Arkansas also has laws prohibiting fetal homicide.
However, Arkansas has no specific law addressing situations in which a person secretly gives abortion drugs like RU-486 to a pregnant woman.
H.B. 1551 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R — Paragould) makes it a felony to try to kill an unborn child by secretly giving a pregnant woman abortion-inducing drugs without her knowledge or consent.
Ms. Herring suffered serious health complications and had to be hospitalized as a result. Since then, states have begun proposing laws like H.B. 1551 to prevent this type of crime.
H.B. 1551 passed the Arkansas House and Arkansas Senate without a single lawmaker voting against it. With the governor’s signature on Tuesday, H.B. 1551 is now slated to take full effect later this summer.
Family Council appreciates our friends at Arkansas Right to Life, who were the lead champions of this good law. We appreciate all of the state legislators who voted for H.B. 1551, and we appreciate the governor signing it into law.
H.B. 1551 is a good law that will help protect women and unborn children from dangerous abortion drugs. That is something Arkansans should be proud of.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
Above: Rep. Wayne Long and Family Council staff member Erin Hogan discuss pro-life bill H.B. 1678 in the House Judiciary Committee.
Last week the House Judiciary Committee discussed a good bill that would help address illegal abortion drugs in Arkansas.
In Arkansas, abortion is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother. It is also against the law to deliver abortion-inducing drugs like RU-486 into the state.
However, pro-life states like Arkansas are struggling to stop abortionists in other states from trafficking illegal abortion drugs across state lines.
NPR reported last year that legislators in some pro-abortion states have enacted “shield laws” to protect abortionists who ship abortion drugs across state lines. The shield laws give abortionists immunity from civil or criminal liability and prevent them from being extradited to the state where the abortion drugs were sent. That makes it very difficult for authorities in Arkansas to hold abortionists in other states accountable for breaking the law.
This year Rep. Wayne Long (R — Bradford) filed H.B. 1678 to strengthen Arkansas’ Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act that prevents abortion drugs from being delivered or administered illegally in Arkansas.
H.B. 1678 would increase the penalty for selling or prescribing illegal abortion drugs, and it would make it easier to take an abortionist to court for violating the Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act.
All of this would provide additional options for enforcing Arkansas’ pro-life laws.
The Arkansas Legislature is expected to adjourn soon, and lawmakers are running out of time to hear and discuss all of the bills at the Capitol right now. However, House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Carol Dalby (R — Texarkana) made sure that Rep. Long had an opportunity to present H.B. 1678 to the committee last week.
On April 3, the House Judiciary Committee met to discuss H.B. 1678 in committee. Rep. Long explained the bill to the committee members and took the time to answer questions about H.B. 1678. Several points were raised about the different ways Arkansas might enforce its good, pro-life laws. After about 20 minutes of discussion, Rep. Long opted to pull H.B. 1678 down so he could work on it some more. Pulling the bill down gives Rep. Long an opportunity to improve the bill and present it again at a later date.
Family Council deeply appreciates Rep. Dalby making sure H.B. 1678 received a fair hearing in the House Judiciary Committee last week, and we appreciate Rep. Long’s willingness to work with the committee members on this important issue.
Abortion drugs like RU-486 hurt women and kill unborn children. We simply can’t let abortionists in states like New York or California violate the pro-life laws that our legislators have passed.
Rep. Long, Rep. Dalby, and the House Judiciary Committee are giving this issue the attention it deserves, and Family Council is pleased to get to work alongside them to stop abortion drugs in Arkansas.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
